ASEAN stresses inclusive, sustainable development in flagship report

JAKARTA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will foster evidence-based policy planning in the future to achieve inclusive and sustainable development in the region amidst imminent changes and emerging trends, according to the ASEAN Development Outlook (ADO) released Monday during an online forum here.

Being the first cross-sectoral and comprehensive assessment on ASEAN social and environmental development, the flagship report was developed by ASEAN in cooperation with China and brings new perspective to achieve inclusive and sustainable development.

The ADO, themed Inclusive and Sustainable Development, captures the successes and challenges of ASEAN's development to date and offers critical look at possible ways forward to achieve inclusive and sustainable development in the region amidst imminent changes and emerging trends.

In his opening remarks, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Socio-cultural Community Kung Phoak said that the ADO and its innovative perspectives will foster evidence-based policy planning and greater ASEAN policy ownership. He hoped that with policy options, recommendations and grounded solutions, the ADO will help assist policy makers in safeguarding development gains in this challenging time.

Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN Deng Xijun shared that as ASEAN and China celebrate the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-China dialogue relations and ASEAN-China Year of Sustainable Development Cooperation in 2021, the ADO is a landmark outcome of ASEAN-China partnership especially in sustainable development cooperation.

The findings of the report emphasise that direct engagement with the social and cultural spheres of development through participatory methods will ensure individual voices across different cohorts of society are included.

The report calls on a more thorough and inclusive approach in enhancing capabilities of human being, while taking advantage of utilizing foresight approach to development. Moreover, rather than looking out to global practices, the ADO advocates for approaches that are rooted in ASEAN in term of design, implementation and evaluation.